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Over a 3-4 hour period, it is entirely normal for a live stream to pause or stop once or twice due to the fluctuations in internet traffic. However, if you are experiencing pauses more frequently, there could be several likely causes:

1. Viewing on a wireless connection - While it is very possible to watch a stream uninterrupted on a wireless signal, they are also greatly prone to interference from physical objects and proximity to towers/antennas, other wireless devices and appliances which emit radio frequencies, etc. Whenever possible, please connect directly to your modem or router via an Ethernet cable or move as close as possible to your wireless connection with an unobstructed view. Cellular and satellite providers may also impose bandwidth restrictions within a 24 hour or monthly time span and/or charge for overages in your plan if you exceed them. Please review the terms of service with your service provider.

2. Problems with your internet connection - Live webcasts really test how well your internet connection performs. Test your internet connection by going to speedtest.net and clicking on the BEGIN NOW button at the top of the map (not the advertisement above it). This will report a ping time, download and upload speed. The ideal ping time is below 100ms. An occasional ping time above is okay, but anything consistent over has the potential to lead to interruptions. The download speed must be 1Mbps or higher for an uninterrupted stream. Anything below may lead to frequent interruptions.

It is possible to have a good ping time and good download speed and still experience problems due to packet loss. Packet loss is where the connection will randomly drop packets of data (pieces of video) and cause the video to stop. To test if you are experiencing packet loss, open a command prompt (On Windows, click on Start, type cmd and hit enter in the search field). Type 'ping stream.hawk-multimedia.com -t' without the quotes and press return. This will continuously send and receive requests to the streaming server until escaped or cancelled and report the response time in milliseconds. If you receive any "Request timed out." responses, you are experiencing packet loss. Packet loss may occur anywhere along the path of delivery and may or may not be within the confines of your internet provider.

How to determine where packet loss is coming from. At the command prompt, type 'tracert edge.hawk-multimedia.com' without the quotes and hit enter. This will trace the route between your computer and the streaming server. It is normal to get some 'request timed out' responses, but the most important thing to pay attention to is the response times. If there is one or more points along the trace reporting abnormally high response times (hundreds of milliseconds), that is likely the culprit. The address after the responses tells where along the way it occurs and who's network is having the problem. If it is within your internet provider, contact them and provide them with the obtained information.

3. The problem is on our end - If we experience problems with our local Charter internet connection, we will post and provide updates on our Facebook page as soon as possible and will resume streaming as soon as our connection allows.